Thursday, April 14, 2011

In September - October, I was very fortunate to be able to spend some time touring the United Kingdom and Ireland. Okay, you dragged it out of me, the tour was three weeks, and it was A-MA-ZING! One of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing various Harry Potter filming sites. Now, Harry Potter's world isn't a real place on the map like the setting on our Twilight Movie Tour, so everything had to be CG'd or superimposed or edited together to make it seem real. So, as you are looking at my pics, use your imagination. Try reading it in your best British monologue. Or, better yet, go re-watch the films - HP7P1 comes out tomorrow/today on disc, you know! Alright, then! Jolly good!

As soon as we arrived in London, we made our way down to the London Eye, then cruised on the River Thames to the Tower of London. Along the way, we sailed underneath the Millennium Bridge, aka the Wobbly Bridge, which was used in the opening scene of HP6.

The next day, Stacey, Tracey and I went on a tour marketed specifically as Harry Potter. We did see a lot of HP sites, as you'll see below, but not as many as we would have liked, such as the building used for Gringotts Bank or The Leaky Cauldron. Don't get me wrong, the other stuff was fascinating. I felt quite learned following Nigel's bloody riveting hullabaloos every time we transitioned to a new period of ancient architecture. Doesn't it speak volumes about my level of cultural refinement?

Our first stop was the cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral, which was used in filming a few hallway scenes at Hogwarts.

The entrance to Gryffindor Common Room was also shot here. In the films, there was a red door in the entryway. Can't you just imagine the painting of the fat lady hanging next to us? What was that password again?

More memorable is the alcove where Harry Potter hides out when he spots Snape talking to Malfoy in HP6. This alcove is also at the Cathedral. Stacey and I tried to conceal ourselves behind one of the columns. I think we would have been spotted.

From here, we went on to Oxford, the college town home to Oxford University. I have to admit, I did not think Oxford such a large campus. It really is a self-containing town. My big question for Nigel was, does the university make the town or does the town make the university? He said that it was one of the great debates of the town. Oh, yea, score one for me in the astute column!

Within the town are even smaller hamlets that comprise each of the major schools of the university. We stopped first at Balliol College. The cloisters here were used in HP4, when the students were wearing Potter Stinks buttons and Mad Eye Moody turns Malfoy into a ferret. This was my first "a-ha, I recognize it" moment. And, yes, I felt like I had arrived. Isn't this shot brilliant? I'd say, I ought to be a photographer, but I'm sure that Stacey's photos turned out much better.

It's tempting to want to post all of the shots from this courtyard in this post, but I'll refrain and just add one more: a self-portrait of myself with Stacey in the background taking a self-portrait of herself! Nope, didn't plan that! But, from this shot, you can easily see the entrance they used to come in and go off camera during the scene.

Next, we stopped at the Bodleian College Library near Radcliffe Square. (Not making that up.) A few scenes and inspirations can be found here. First, this room was used in HP4 when Professor McGonagall teaches Ron how to dance just before the Yule Ball.

Nigel speculated that this case inside the room was the inspiration for the vault lock sequence in Gringotts Bank. Things that make you go ... hmmm.

Christ Church College was our next stop on the Oxford tur. (I didn't just misspell that word. It's how the Brits pronounce it.) Besides being one of the largest colleges of the University of Oxford, it also happens to be a popular filming location. The cloisters courtyard within the church were used to film winter scenes in HP2 and HP3.

Imagine snow falling! Stacey and I positioned ourselves inside one of the open-air windows.

Also at Christ Church is the long room that inspired the Great Hall at Hogwarts in the film, its walls covered in paintings much like the renown School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you look closely, you'll see that there are only three table rows. If I recall correctly, Nigel said they CG'd the other row into the scene in order to accommodate all four houses of students.

The paintings here were the inspiration for the moving pictures in the films. Nigel pointed out that this portrait of Thomas Andrew Terance, if I'm deciphering the nameplate correctly, literally seemed to move as we were walking past. I think Nigel was trying to impress us, but we know this is because the painting lacks a third dimension. Oh, Nigel!

The piece de resistance, which wasn't part of the original tur, but a landmark we requested, was to see the house used as Four Privet Drive, which is located in the lih'le burough of Picket Post Close.

The house appeared to be undergoing renovations, given the dumpster in front. And, of course, it was only used in HP1, before Warner Brothers constructed its own set.

Back in London, while were taking some night shots, we stood on the Lambeth Bridge, the same one the Knight Bus is on when it squeezes in between two other cars. Just so happens that scene was filmed at night! Stacey got a cool time-delayed shot with cars streaking past. I would link to it here if Stacey had it posted somewhere. =]

A few days later when we were in the Scottish Highlands, our wonderful tur director Konrad pointed out that majestic Glencoe is where the flying car from HP2 was CG'd into the mountains here. Look familiar?

At Edinburgh Castle, J.K. Rowling gave a reading in part of the Governor's house, because it resembles Hogwarts.

Finally, one night we happened to be eating dinner at Merchant's, which is just under the George IV Bridge, where, you guessed it, The Elephant House is located. Stacey and I figured this out from the map and took a little stroll up the street to the bridge level just to see the famous cafe where the story was born. Dulce et decorum!

Here is approximately where J. K. Rowling sat crafting the first installment of her legendary tale while she gazed out at Edinburgh Castle. How I wish I had time to sit here and sip some coffee!

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I enjoy organizing and preserving papyrus treasures and digital photos. I'm a true blood paper junkie and love to paint with the often-overlooked produce of trees. What is your paper passion? I'd love to hear from you! Send me an e-mail at thebookstand@msn.com